Abstract
Bringing partners together for critical reflection on their partnerships is important in nurturing co-creative relationships and processes. Building on prior work (Bringle et al., 2009; Kniffin et al., 2020), the Transformational Relationship Evaluation Scale (TRES) III Reflection Framework is both an assessment tool and a reflective intervention for deepening partnerships. The Framework guides community and campus partners in reflecting collaboratively on their partnership so as to generate actionable learning that can improve partnership practice. The TRES III Reflection Framework encompasses the new TRES III scale as well as reflection prompts based on the research-grounded DEAL model for critical reflection (Ash & Clayton, 2009). The Framework provides a structure and process for Describing a partnership (e.g., who comprises it, its purposes); Examining partnership dynamics in twelve domains (e.g., power sharing, decision making, communication); and Articulating Learning in the form of action planning toward desired enhancements. Including time and space for both individual and collaborative use enables individual perspectives and priorities to be integrated in collaborative meaning making and action planning. TRES is applicable across the range of community-campus partnership activities (e.g., community-engaged learning and research, extension projects, institutional assessment) and for different purposes (e.g., accreditation, strategic planning, the Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement, teaching and learning partnerships, grants). Research (Kniffin et al., 2023; Price et al., 2025) documents that partners and planners/facilitators who have used the Framework have enhanced commitment to and clarity around partnerships, have brought in new members to better fulfill co-creative partnership potential, have improved communications, and have set and acted on goals for refining their work together.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-2-2026
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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Recommended Citation
Clayton, P. H., Camo-Biogradlija, J., Kniffin, L. E., Price, M. F., Botkin, H. M., & Bringle, R. G. (2026). The Transformational Relationship Evaluation Scale III (TRES III) Reflection Framework. [Learning Tool] DOI: 10.58809/PEKS9637
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